5 rings don’t get DeBartolo, Haley a Hall call

Former 49ers defensive end Charles Haley was not among the six-person Hall of Fame class of 2012. -- AP

They both have five Super Bowls rings, but they’ll have to wait at least one more year to have a bust in Canton.

Neither former 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. nor defensive end Charley Haley were included in the six-person Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2012, a group that consists of defensive back Jack Butler, center Dermontti Dawson, defensive end Chris Doleman, defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy, running back Curtis Martin and offensive tackle Willie Roaf. Doleman played with the 49ers from 1996-98, collecting 38 sacks in 48 games.

DeBartolo, whose five Super Bowls are the most by an individual owner in NFL history, did not make the cut from 15 modern-day finalists to 10. Haley, the only player to earn five Super Bowl rings, survived the first cut, but didn’t make the cut from 10 to five finalists.

Of the two omissions, I was most surprised about Haley, a five-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro who played in seven NFC Championship games during an eight-season span (1988-95). His mid-career trade from the Niners to Cowboys helped swing the balance of power in the conference as Dallas went on to win three Super Bowls in a four-season span with Haley on board.

Of course, he was a disruptive force, both on and off the field, and his relationship with the media (not to mention coaches and teammates) likely didn’t endear him to some of the 44 NFL writers who determine the Hall-of-Fame class.

Similarly, DeBartolo, a first-time finalist, has his own off-the-field baggage that might have hurt his candidacy. The NFL fined DeBartolo $1 million and suspended him for the 1999 season after he pleased guilty to a felony: failing to report a bribe request from then-Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards.